Article

2013-02-17 Europe

Thousands Rally against Portugal Austerity

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Posted by Fred 2013-02-17 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11123 views ] Top

#1 "We want to break with the commitments made in return for the rescue plan, break with right-wing policies, demand the resignation of the government and new elections," union chief Armenio Carlos said.

Any grownups left in Europe?

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2013-02-17 05:13|| 2013-02-17 05:13|| Front Page Top

#2 Any grownups left in Europe?
Yes, a few Bundesbankers and a lot of Friday temple goers..

Posted by Shipman 2013-02-17 06:41|| 2013-02-17 06:41|| Front Page Top

#3 No, actually a too big state and its borrowing destroyed the countries future. It also allowed it to pretend to be wealthier than it really was. What you are seeing now is how productive the country is with all that metastatic government.

Posted by Bright Pebbles 2013-02-17 06:55|| 2013-02-17 06:55|| Front Page Top

#4 If the government stops providing for its unemployed - and unemployable - young men they will likely take matters into their own hands, and form roving gangs of predators. (See Somalia for a case study.) Desperation gets very ugly.

Posted by Glenmore 2013-02-17 07:40|| 2013-02-17 07:40|| Front Page Top

#5 This policy has no future, it is destroying the country's economy.

Look at this way comrade. Austerity isnt simply a misguided economic policy. Think of it as the inevitable symptom of decades of borrowed promises from a bloated state. Hope that helps?

Posted by DepotGuy 2013-02-17 11:13|| 2013-02-17 11:13|| Front Page Top

#6 Glenmore

I suppose you think paying the DaneGeld gets rid of the Dane...

Posted by Bright Pebbles 2013-02-17 11:23|| 2013-02-17 11:23|| Front Page Top

#7 No, BP, just pointing out the consequences. Unless there is the willingness of the people to face the 'Dane', society will be better off paying the geld. (Not to mention, after living off the geld for long enough the Dane will get soft, and more likely to lose quickly in the final confrontation.)

Posted by Glenmore 2013-02-17 11:39|| 2013-02-17 11:39|| Front Page Top

#8 The "right wing" Government are just social democrats and centrists. So for communists they are "right wing". They are socialists just less.
The "austerity" doesn't exist we are still borrowing at 5-6% defict year.
This Government is helpless they attack the people with taxes, and penalizations that made this week an ex-secretary of this own government say that if any fiscal police would check him if he got a bill to any transaction, he would say to them "take in the ass".

Btw 5000 in Lisbon in city with 1 million is nothing. They are the unions, unions btw that made the Public Railway Company have had some sort of strike in more than 200 days of the last year.

Posted by Phaith Grique4599 2013-02-17 14:01|| 2013-02-17 14:01|| Front Page Top

#9 When will we make economics a required course in school, but without the critical theory class warfare crap?

Its all about limited resources and marginal cost and opportunity costs.

Since no one that writes monetary policy and formulates national budgets understand this, we are going to see an endless string of shattered economies thanks to all of these clowns that did not get past Chapter 5 of Maynard Keynes (who by the way NEVER said you could spend your way out of a recession. He said there was a balance between deficit spending, tax rates, unemployment, interest rates, and inflation, you break the relationship the whole thing goes haywire.)

What we need is more economics in high school and less self esteem training. If the little dumbasses coming out of school understood a few things about economics and less about being "important" we might have a chance.

Posted by Bill Clinton 2013-02-17 14:58|| 2013-02-17 14:58|| Front Page Top

#10 Well then you'd have to teach maths.

In reality all economics AKA study of wealth creation boils down to comparative advantage i.e. exchanging our time.

Posted by Bright Pebbles 2013-02-17 15:30|| 2013-02-17 15:30|| Front Page Top

#11 you DO know that high school teachers would teach economic justice, not what you're expecting? The change needs to start in the educational base.

Posted by Frank G 2013-02-17 15:44|| 2013-02-17 15:44|| Front Page Top

#12 Thank you for reporting from the belly of the beast, Phaith Grique4599. That does change ur u derstanding of the article.

Posted by trailing wife 2013-02-17 15:55|| 2013-02-17 15:55|| Front Page Top

#13 #11 Frank I'm sorry but you're correct.

I've been substitute teaching in middle & high school since I retired. Kids are generally better than I expected. Teachers? Some are really good, some are pretty bad, most are middle of the road; BUT, the most problems (not all) for teachers are the rules and curriculum that they are forced to live under. They are buried in PC administrivia and can't change the curriculum provided by the State "educators".

The econ text I had to teach from (basically baby sit, little teaching) barely touched on the idea of supply and demand except in the context of proper government control of both. I spoke to the econ teacher one other day and she was doing her best to include some reality but.......... At least she skipped the unit in the approved book on Islamic banking.

Social Studies is by far the worst. Everything is based on white guilt and cultural relativism. Yeeecccchhhhhhh!

Posted by Alanc 2013-02-17 17:04|| 2013-02-17 17:04|| Front Page Top

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